


Of Dancing and French Fries

by orphan_account



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe, Death and PTSD mentioned briefly, Gen, Natasha and Tony have history, Natasha used to dance, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark looks out for his teammates, Young Natasha Romanov l Natalia Romanov
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-18
Updated: 2020-05-18
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:49:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24256165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: In which Natasha finds her childhood, a friend and an affinity for French Fries.
Relationships: Natasha Romanov & Tony Stark
Kudos: 19





	Of Dancing and French Fries

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Whats Hidden Inside](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/622030) by Rikki Writinglover. 



Natsha’s fingers worked deftly around the firewall of Stark’s code.

The man was paranoid, and it took days for Natasha to even make progress. But the end result was near, and she knew it.

Ordinarily, Natasha had no qualms about hacking into someone’s files. She always had a mission, and it needed to be completed. She had been raised to do this. But this was Tony Stark’s personal files, the files of the one man that could outwit Natasha if he wanted to. She would even grudgingly admit, out loud, that she respected the man, and thought of him as her friend.

But Natasha wanted to know the man's PTSD triggers. There were a few that made sense, like his fear of water. She had read the his file, after all. But some were so random, and seemingly unconnected.

And Natasha was a spy. This is what she meant to do. Find information that benefited her. And Natasha was sure that once she knew, it would benefit Stark as well.

Besides, if Natasha was able to get this far, it was obvious Stark meant for her to see this. There was no way she would be able to hack into his account if he didn’t allow it.

Smiling as she finally cracked his code, she prepared herself for anything.

What Natasha was not expecting was three files.

Two videos and a document. The title of all three was ‘Natalia’.

Opening the first video, Natasha found herself watching a young, seven year old girl dancing gracefully on the streets, long red hair flowing in the wind.

Her.

This was herself.

Natasha didn’t remember much about her life before the Red Room, other than dancing. Even when she had confided in Clint, a couple months ago, he hadn’t quite believed her, and to be honest, neither did she. Her childhood was so lost on her that she didn’t even believe most of her memories herself.

But here she was, dancing in the streets, proof that she had once been young enough to believe in the kindness of strangers. The girl in the video (Me, she reminded herself, that was me.) danced near the camera man, and her eyes lit up in recognition. She beamed, and said, in poor English, _“Thank you!”_

Whoever was holding the camera shook slightly, no doubt waving back, and said _“Don’t thank me. You’re amazing!”_

Little Natalia smiled and danced just a bit better.

Wow.

Fingers shaking slightly, Natasha clicked on the second video.

The youthful face of a young Tony Stark stared back at her.

_“Hey! It worked!” The boy took a step back and admired his work. “You're probably wondering who I am. Well, my name’s Tony Stark. I’m ten, and I created you.” He smiled. “You see, dad’s on a business trip. We’re in Russia, but I’m not allowed in any of the important things, so I made you instead. I hope mom’s not mad that I took my toolkit here. She’s really strict about that.” The seven year old fidgeted slightly. “I know you’re just a camera, but I kinda made you, so I’m proud of you anyway. Is that weird? It’s like I’m your dad.”_

_“Oh by the way, you’re made from random pieces of tech I found in the hotel room. I didn’t break anything, I promise! Dad does this all the time, so I think it’s fine if I do it too.” Smiling, Tony moved a chair in front of the camera. He sat on it, with his hands in his lap, looking every bit the awkward, gawky boy he used to be._

_“Yesterday, I ran into this beautiful girl. She’s a dancer, and she didn’t speak a lot of English, but she looked around eight. Her outfit was not in good shape and she obviously didn’t have anyone else, so I tipped her.” His face was soft, “I know. She didn’t really like the bills, something about being pitied, but what was I supposed to do? Her name’s Natalia, I think. Dad doesn’t have a better use for the money, he didn’t even notice it was gone. I don’t really know how much I gave her. I hope it was enough.”_

_There was a knock on the door; “BOY!”_

_Tony jumped, stammering out a “Coming!” before he leaned forwards towards the camera. Just as he was about to shut it off, he said “I’ll keep you updated, don’t worry.”_

The video paused, but opened again a second later.

_They were in a similar room, and Tony looked around a year older. “I saw her again! It was confusing at first, ‘cause Natalia had moved neighbourhoods. I actually searched the whole street before giving up and finding her on the street in front of Dad’s client. I funded her more, she didn’t like that.” This Tony Stark was just as energetic as the last. “And I learned Russian after the last time, so we were able to talk. It was really nice. I think she’s my first friend, after Ana and Jarvis, obviously.”_

_“The bad news is that Dad’s client, Volkrov something, is actually kinda stingy, and Dad left his house after he got the deal, so I don’t think we’re coming back here soon. Which is sad, ‘cause Natalia’s my friend and I like her. Maybe I’ll visit her on my own, and that way I can bring her french fries next time.”_

_Once again, a deep voice rumbled through the door, “SON! WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU! LISTEN TO ME FOR ONCE IN MY LIFE!”_

_Tony paled and reached towards the camera, “Sorry, I have to go.”_

The video ended.

Natasha stalled.

Something warm and fluttery landed in her stomach.

It wasn't the feeling she had when she killed someone. It was different.

Oh, now she knew.

Natasha remembers the feeling she got when Clint had first stayed with her. The kind words he offered had been rebuffed, and the cold hard shell of Black Widow had come out, but inside, something had been melting. It was amazing, the feeling of being accepted, and it warmed her heart.

She never reacted when someone was kind with her. Black Widow always put those moments in the back of her head, staying true to the mission. _No distractions._

But Natalia kept them, and took them out of her little box to look at whenever she felt lonely.

The two of them combined created Natasha, a woman so strong and fierce that she melted glaciers, with a heart of ice.

Not flesh, like Natalia, but not stone, like Widow. Widow's heart would only get chipped until there was nothing left. Natalia's heart would get squished until it broke.

But Natasha's heart melted. And re-froze.

It was fool-proof, meant for survival.

On that note, Natasha now knew why the fridge was always stocked with her favourite food. 

Natasha turned her attention back to the screen in front of her. 

She turned to the document, and found a few links and a couple scattered notes. They all seemed to be about her, keeping tabs on her well-being. A whole three inches of writing was dedicated to background research on a businessman named Mr. Volkrov, who, Natasha remembers, once gave her a room to stay in during a major storm.

Tony had done that. There was enough blackmail here for a distinguished millionaire to accept a street dancer into their home for a night.

The following pages included efforts of trying to find her, once the Red Room took her. It was followed by a short summary of Black Widow sightings, and a paragraph about the similarities between Natalia’s dancing and the Widow’s fighting was highlighted in bold. There was a particularly clear photo of her face, and Tony had written a line of blurb underneath to show his excitement; _oafhosfjivofow afefeoai It's Natalia I don't care if this document doesn't seem professional or put together anymore 'cause there's Natalia!!!_

A whole four pages were dedicated to an in depth review of Natalie Rushman, and a few short sentences summarised the whole text; _It’s nice to see Natalia again. Somehow, she’s exactly the same and the polar opposite of who I expected her to grow up to be at the same time._

_But I brought her to a burger joint and she loved the french fries, so I know that even though Natalia is gone, the Black Widow hasn't completely swallowed her. She's whoever she chooses to be, and I respect that._

It occurred to Natasha that Tony was probably allowing her to see something few got to see; the caring side, the one that did unnecessary things for others.

Feeling privileged and warm, Natasha moved to continue the hack, but stalled.

Tony had just given her a lost piece of her childhood back.

Natasha made sure to remind herself to be kind to the billionaire if she ever saw him. Maybe she could help him out with other things. His hand to hand combat was certainly lacking. Maybe that was a place to start. Maybe she could defend him if Cap decided to rant again.

She would always have his back, that’s for sure. For all the times he had hers.

But still.

Something was missing.

Natasha paused again.

She could always ask Pepper for certain subjects to look out for, instead of forcing her way in.

If Tony wanted to share, he would share. After all, it was his privacy, and she could respect that.

She logged out.

That was odd, Natasha pondered. She had never stopped a mission, much less for a humane, kind reason.

Maybe Tony was also teaching her things as well.

**Author's Note:**

> First fic, and it's pretty bad. I made this a long time ago, around where Natasha was first introduced, but adapted it when I read Whats Hidden Inside By Rikki Writinglover, because I loved the idea of Natasha dancing so much.
> 
> I feel like even though Natasha would be happy and all emotional, she's still Natasha. I don't know, but that's the reason why she isn't shrieking or crying at the end. She's just... slightly less calm and a bit less collected, you know? Shocked, at most.
> 
> Also, once again, I wrote this back when I knew nothing about really anything, so if some things are inaccurate, I apologise.


End file.
